ukrainian military, according to the ukrainian government. we have reached an historic place, a short conflict but a quicke, one and it could put questions to rest why vladimir putin will go with the invasion, it is clear to decapitate the government and make it an ungovernable country. this seems by calculation the fallback position of the ukrainian government or to some extent the ukrainian forces were to retreat tore to where you were and mount some kind of counter offensive, counter insurgency,te it seems from looking at the backdrop, an active city this morning, talk to us a little bit about the general preparations of what is taking place in the area where you are. are they both in, you know, preparing for the influx of refugees, and at the same time, are we seeing any potential call-up of mass mobilization of civilians to perhaps counter that russian invasion into kyiv?
very briefly when i am, this is a city in the view of those supposed to be the fallback position, it was supposed to be the place that people feel safe, well, they started wrapping the statues here. they re putting these big lavrov power on statues. scientists ready to take them underground, maybe move them to poland. this is more indication of it doesn t seem to be any reach, or any limit to what people fear, here, about the russian army could do. cal, stay safe where you are in lviv in western ukraine. nbc news correspondent cal perry in lviv. let s turn now to retired four star air force general, philip breed love. philip served as the allied commander from 2015 2016. he s now in the middle east institute. general, thanks for being with us, i appreciate it. i want to understand the ukrainian government continues to push for some sort of no-fly zone. they feel that with the russian air superiority over ukraine,
the center of town have been hiding, whether they re jew or gentile, from the danger that putin has threatened them with. two days ago, there was some kind of air strikes or rocket strikes, we re not sure which, again, on the outskirts of town. there is a significant military base here. there is also an air field and there is a strong expectation that this town could be next in line if kyiv falls. it may in the end lose kyiv but they won t have lost the war. they may lose that battle and this is likely to become a fallback position for the future. but particularly strong sense of solidarity here between the jewish community and other ukrainianians here. when you think about the complex, often very dark but complex history ukrainian has. with the history in world war
thank you again for having me. it was gutting. i think to a person, people were devastated by the very eloquent plea that president zelenskyy delivered to the congress. obviously both congressman and senators as well to do more in defense and protection of ukraine and defense and protection of freedom and democracy everywhere. you ve been pushing your colleagues for several weeks to do more on both sides of the aisle. was his fallback position to the no-fly zone something that you think you can generate support from the administration for, which is fighter jets and other antiaircraft and obviously antitank weapons. ? so, certainly that has been his request and his position in the alternative of not having a of having a no-fly zone. something i ve been advocating for and as you mentioned, bipartisanly, there s a group of us that we support and address his requests for air power that
society has achieved over the last 25 years. he says this will be a fall for them, a painful fall. and that is where we begin our coverage this hour. nbc news correspondent cal perry joins us live from lviv, ukraine. also with us from lviv, terl jermaine star, the host of the black diplomats podcast. it s a pleasure to have you with us today. cal perry, as we do every day, i start with you. i have to confess that i this strikes at your false sense of security that all of our colleagues who are in lviv, all of the refugees who have fled mariupol or kyiv or other parts are safe in lviv. this attack seemed to operate on multiple levels for the russians. absolutely. this is the fallback position for refugees, for journalists, for so many people in diplomatic corridors in countries around